It will get worse

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On the 22nd of October 2014, Kultura Liberalna hosted a debate on unemployment amongst young Europeans and a crisis of trust in the labour market.

About the debate:

We are used to regarding economics as a serious and scientific discipline. but is this perception well justified? Six years after the biggest financial crisis since the Great Depression broke out, we are still very far, not only from identifying its causes, but above all from finding ways to manage its consequences. Although, some economists claim the crash was brought on by an over-reliance on the free market and a lack of control over financial institutions, many others argue that the market actually worked well and that what caused the recession were excessive regulations.

Such discussions may heat up the universities and the pages of broadsheet journals, but young Europeans – who have, as yet, been worst affected by this crisis – are less and less interested in these arguments. In some countries the level of unemployment amongst this demographichas reached 50 percent and there appear to be only slim chances of any improvementin the near future. “You’ll be worse off than your parents” commentators proclaim. Yet, instead of passively agreeing with the diagnosis, would it not be better to consider how to change this state of affairs?

Who is to blame? Is it, as claimed, young graduates with their unrealistic expectations? Perhaps their schools – these “factories of the unemployed”, as one Polish CEO has described them – which apparently ignore the needs of the labour market? Yet what are these so-called “needs”, which we constantly hear about the market having? What if they are just a smokescreen, covering up a lack of ideas on how to deal with the problem? Do we really have to liberalise labour law and agree to more flexible forms of employment? Such recommendations are sometimes well justified, but where do we have to draw a line? If the apparent “cure” is to entirely dissolve the social security system, which we painstakingly built up, won’t it turn out to be worse than the illness itself?

Who is therefore responsible for the fact that every fourth young European is unemployed – the state, demanding employees, neglected markets, unrealistic schools or all of us and our lack of mental flexibility?

Participants:

Speakers:

Katarzyna Kasia is a philosopher and graduate of the University of Warsaw’s Department of Philosophy and Sociology. Recipient of a fellowship at the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, she is the author of Rzemiosło formowania. Luigiego Pareysona estetyka formatywności [The Development of Handicraft. Luigi Pareyson’s Aesthetic Formation] Katarzyna also translates the works of Italian philosophers (such as Pareyson and Vattimo) and writes for Kultura Liberalna, primarily on matters of art and philosophy. Her work for Kultura Liberalna doesn’t, however, end here and she is a member of the editorial team for the journal’s review of philosophical literature. She also works on co-operative projects with Polish radio.

Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz is a Polish doctor and Polskie Stronnictwo Ludowe [Polish People’s Party] politician. Since 2011, he has been serving as the Polish minister for Work and Society in Donald Tusk’s cabinet. Previously, he worked as an assistant at the Jagiellonen University in Cracow, before in 2010 he was voted onto Cracow’s town council. His father is the Polish ex-health minister, Andrzej Kosiniak-Kamysz.

Peter Szumlewicz is a Polish journalist, author, publicist and editor. A graduate of the University of Warsaw’s Philosophy and Sociology Department, he spent several years editing the magazine Bez Dogmatu and the web portal lewica.pl, for whom he still works as the editor of lewica24.pl. He has been widely published in, amongst others, Przeglądzie, Gazecie Wyborczej, Trybunie and the Polish edition of Le monde diplomatique. He also well known as a founding member of Krytyka Polityczna and for his television work, having featured in numerous TVP programmes since 2010. Recent books from Peter Szumlewicz, include Ojciec nieświęty [Unholy Father] (2012) and Niezbędnik ateisty [Atheist Essentials] (2010).

Joanna Tyrowicz is a senior economist at National Bank of Poland and adjunct professor the University of Warsaw’s Economics Faculty. In addition to these roles, she also works in co-operation with DG Employment and the World Bank. She was educated at both the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven and the University of Warsaw and has been a visiting scholar at Columbia University, Indiana University, the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Studies and IZA, Bonn. She specialises in labour economics.

Moderator:

Karolina Wigura is the head of Kultura Liberalna‘s political department, a Marshall Foundation scholar at the Viennese Institute for Human Sciences and an adjunct employee of the University of Warsaw’s Institute of Sociology. She studied sociology, philosophy and political science at both the University of Warsaw and the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich and is known for writing Wina narodów. Przebaczenie jako strategia prowadzenia polityki [The Wines of Nations. Forgiveness as a Political Strategy], for which she received the Józef Tischner Prize in 2012.

Mówcy:

Katarzyna Kasia is a philosopher and graduate of the University of Warsaw’s Department of Philosophy and Sociology. Recipient of a fellowship at the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, she is the author of Rzemiosło formowania. Luigiego Pareysona estetyka formatywności [The Development of Handicraft. Luigi Pareyson’s Aesthetic Formation] Katarzyna also translates the works of Italian philosophers (such as Pareyson and Vattimo) and writes for Kultura Liberalna, primarily on matters of art and philosophy. Her work for Kultura Liberalna doesn’t, however, end here and she is a member of the editorial team for the journal’s review of philosophical literature. She also works on co-operative projects with Polish radio.

Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz is a Polish doctor and Polskie Stronnictwo Ludowe [Polish People’s Party] politician. Since 2011, he has been serving as the Polish minister for Work and Society in Donald Tusk’s cabinet. Previously, he worked as an assistant at the Jagiellonen University in Cracow, before in 2010 he was voted onto Cracow’s town council. His father is the Polish ex-health minister, Andrzej Kosiniak-Kamysz.

Peter Szumlewicz is a Polish journalist, author, publicist and editor. A graduate of the University of Warsaw’s Philosophy and Sociology Department, he spent several years editing the magazine Bez Dogmatu and the web portal lewica.pl, for whom he still works as the editor of lewica24.pl. He has been widely published in, amongst others, Przeglądzie, Gazecie Wyborczej, Trybunie and the Polish edition of Le monde diplomatique. He also well known for being a founding member of Krytyka Polityczna and his television work, having featured in numerous TVP programmes since 2010. Recent books from Peter Szumlewicz, include Ojciec nieświęty [Unholy Father](2012) and Niezbędnik ateisty [Atheist Essentials] (2010).

Joanna Tyrowicz is a senior economist at National Bank of Poland and adjunct professor the University of Warsaw’s Economics Faculty. In addition to these roles, she also works in co-operation with DG Employment and the World Bank. She was educated at both the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven and the University of Warsaw and has been a visiting scholar at Columbia University, Indiana University, the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Studies and IZA, Bonn. She specialises in labour economics.

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